World briefs

Organizers of the London Olympics scrambled Tuesday to assure a skeptical nation that a shortfall in security personnel that has forced the deployment of military reinforcements would not compromise the safety of the games, whose opening ceremony is less than two weeks away.

But lawmakers who interrogated the head of the global security company, G4S, drew different conclusions, and even the chief executive himself, Nick Buckles, acknowledged that his company's performance had been a “humiliating shambles.”

Nicola Blackwood, a Conservative legislator on Parliament's Home Affairs select committee, which grilled Buckles for more than 90 minutes said, “I had very little confidence in G4S fulfilling this contract before this session started, and now I don't have any confidence at all.”

Greenland

Iceberg is 46 square miles

An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan broke off one of Greenland's largest glaciers.

For several years, scientists had been watching a long crack in the floating ice shelf of the northerly Petermann Glacier.

The new iceberg is likely to follow the path of the one in 2010, one expert said. That broke apart into smaller icebergs headed north, then west and last year started landing in Newfoundland, he said.

Nigeria

Rocket kills boy near school

A rocket fired at a Muslim school in the city of Jos killed a 10-year-old boy Tuesday.

The rocket missed the main school building and hit a nearby house instead, killing the boy, said Capt. Salisu Mustapha. He said a rocket-propelled grenade was used in the attack, but had no information on who might have carried out the attack.

Spain

King, prince taking pay cuts

King Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe will take a 7 percent pay cut as part of the latest round of austerity measures meted out by the country's government as it attempts to control its deficit during a recession.

The salary of Juan Carlos will be reduced to $334,000; the prince, $160,000.

Egypt

Passengers rage; trains collide

Egyptian passengers fed up with waiting for their train to move put logs and rocks on the rails of a nearby track, causing two other trains to collide on Tuesday, an Egyptian security official said. At least four people were injured.

The security official said some of the passengers in Giza, Cairo's twin city, were enraged that they had to wait for more than 30 minutes on their train to allow another train to pass. Some of the passengers placed logs and rocks on the rails of the track of the other train that was holding theirs up. When the train approached, the debris caused it to sideswipe another train.

Canada

Violence feared after fatal party

Toronto police were investigating the possibility of gang involvement in a shooting that killed two and injured 21 at an outdoor party, and said Tuesday they were concerned about the potential for violent retribution.

Bullets were fired into the crowd of more than 200 people at an annual barbecue Monday night in the suburb of Scarborough.

In the second public shooting in Toronto in less than two months, a 14-year-old girl and a 23-year-old man were killed.

Myanmar

Suu Kyi to get U.S. honor

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday she will accept an award in the United States in September, making her first U.S. trip in at least two decades.

The Atlantic Council think tank said Suu Kyi would be presented its Global Citizen Award recognizing “visionary global leaders” on Sept. 21 in New York.

Colombia

Indians drag soldiers off hill

Nasa Indians, who say they are fed up being in the crossfire of the country's long-running conflict, removed soldiers from a strategic hilltop.

Several hundred massed Tuesday against the six soldiers guarding the hilltop.

Then a few dozen Indians attacked the soldiers with sticks and rocks.

When the soldiers refused to budge, the Indians dragged them off.

One soldier fired about 10 shots into the air, but no one was seriously hurt.